a collapse from a fire in berkeley, apartment building but that's not the only problem here right now. we'll tell you about a new challenge for firefighters. >> news from space from just solar flare in years hits earth hours ago. >> and in just a few hours a subcommittee in washington, d.c. will meet to try to figure out what caused the like the one found in a cemetery in san francisco. >> plus, a new whale watch in the bay area, why boaters are being warned! mornings on 2 begins right now! good morning to you. welcome. it's thursday, march 8th.

topping our news, big news from berkeley that we've been following since 4:30 this morning. right now firefighters are still battling a fire at a berkeley apartment house. it started on dwight way, not far from the cal campus. ktvu news was the first to show you live pictures. ktvu's lorain blanco joins us live with this update. lorain, you're at the scene now, what you can tell us? >> reporter: well, the air is still thick with smoke. you can hear a lot of people coughing because of what you see behind me, three hours in and this is still active fire. a lot of black smoke still billowing out of the top of that three-story apartment building. let's look at aerial view from chopper 2. the fire chief says it's a challenging fight, an older building and the fire is all three floors of that building. first arrived closer to 4:30 a.m., the building was fully engulfed. it quickly became a two-alarm

fire. firefighters started up from the inside, but had to call crews out when the roof started to kare in. now there's a new concern. >> we have fire that's still running through the walls, and ceiling and floor spaces of the building. also dealing with a roof and third story collapse that is on the back side of the building. and we're still finding hidden hot spots for portions of the third story wall, collapsing on to adjacent buildings so we're keeping occupants out of the adjacent building. >> this is the look from the back of the truck, where fire crews will be out here for quite a while, and investigators are on scene right now. there's no talk of a possible cause, but everyone out here right now still very involved in just battling the fire. reporting live, lorain blanco, ktvu channel 2 news. and we have new video of the fire from a different angle. take a look at this exclusive video our crews shot just a

short time ago. gutted building looks like it could collapse at any moment. that's a big concern for firefighters. we'll continue our team coverage in just a few minutes. ktvu's tara moriarity is checking on the many people who lost their homes in this morning's huge fire. we'll hear from some of those fire victims from and this is midterm week at cal, adding to extra complications. more at 7:30. time is 7:02. there was also an overnight house fire in the north bay. this one started about 1:00 this morning at this home on heavenly way in mill valley. the flames set off alarms inside the house. the woman in the house was able to escape unharmed, but couldn't take much with her. the closet full of clothing and other items left behind. when firefighters arrived, flames were shooting from the bottom floor. it took about 10 minutes to put out the fire. the cause is still under investigation.

for the second time in seven months, a pit bull dog has been shot and killed by pacifica police. it happened again yesterday at a home on adobe way. a woman called police after neighbors pit bull dog got loose, ran into her house, and started attacking her dog. police say the officer shot the pit bull dog after the dog turned on him. back in august, police shot and killed another pitt bulldog after it turned on its pregnant owner. 32-year-old bella died in that attack. new developments this morning in the case of mistakes at military cemeteries. congress is taking a closer look at the scandal today. and claudine wong has the mistakes found locally. good morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, tori. nearly 30,000 soldiers and their family members are buried here at the san francisco

national cemetery in what is considered hallowed ground. among those gravesites are 51, 51 where there were headstones in the wrong place, some with no headstone at all. same problems mat the golden gate national cemetery in san bruno and it's still unclear how big this problem really is. this all started summer of 2010 when families were discovered at the arlington national cemetery in virginia. that launched an audit to figure out if there was a bigger problem in store, that audit led to discovery of the state at this cemetery and golden gate cemetery. problems being blamed on renovations and they're saying that crews came in to put counsel new sod, fix up the ground, took off grave stones and when they went to put them back, that's when there were problems. this hearing taking place in d.c. this morning at 10:30 our time is considered an update, meant to keep congress and a

house subcommittee up to date where all this stands. they are not done auditing. they've done about 1.5 million gravesites. they want to look at 1.6 million more. those gravesites considered at highest risk for error. back live here at the san francisco national cemetery, congressman jerry is on the subcommittee, agreed to talk to us in the next half hour. we'll have a live report coming up in our next report. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. death-row inmate wesley shermantine claims there may be a third man tied to his now infamous serial killer case. he sent a letter to a sacramento tv station saying his partner in crime lauren herzog trained an apprentice how to train and get away with it. he identifies the third man as jason jones. it's not clear if he believes jones was directly involved in any murders, and he believes

jones is now living in another country. herzog killed himself a few months ago. jury selection in sheriff ross mirkarimi's domestic violence case resumes at 9 this morning. in the meantime, newly released court documents show a former girlfriend claims mirkarimi grabbed her arm hard enough to leave a small bruise during a heated argument four years ago. she says mirkarimi apologized when he realized he had hurt her. the prosecution plans to call flores as a witness in the trial. suspected anothero virus outbreak at an assisted living facility is under investigation this morning in sonoma county. the head of oakmont gardens says there are several suspicious cases of flu like symptoms. a visitor has been confirmed to have norovirus and almost three dozen people have become ill. a norovirus is highly

contagious. more slashed tires in palo alto. the tires on four cars on east meadow drive reported slashed monday. on sunday, at least 51 cars had slashed tires, on east meadow, ventura court, ventura avenue, mcclain street, and park boulevard. if you have any information about these slashing attacks, get in contact with palo alto police. >> very expensive problem. >> yes, it is. >> want to check in with sal keeping a close eye on the complete and this fire in berkeley. >> that's right, just want to mention quickly since we've been covering the fire, remind drivers to stay away from dwight way between shadduck and telegraph, lot of people use that street to get up to that area of south campus. right now it's not usable because of the fire. we'll have another live report from the fire coming up soon. i want to show u2 80 here, it's

pretty slow, the downtown san jose area 42 the west valley. i keep checking to see if perhaps there is a crash along the way. don't see anything. but could be something that we don't know about yet or chp doesn't know about yet. but northbound 280 is slow. northbound 101 slow between hellier and tully, and up to trimble as well. move along as you drive on the westbound bay bridge approach backed up for about a 10 to 15- minute wait. once you make it ton to the bridge it looks okay. and highway 4, slow in bay point, 80 recovering from some earlier problems between pinole and richmond, also want to look at hayward quickly. southbound 880 slows right near highway 238 san leandro through a ward, to union city. now let's go to steve. >> thank you. very good morning. last couple days flags were whipping in the wind, now just a gentle breeze, few locations higher elevations stronger but overall more of a calmer

condition and already sunshine and it will be a sunny day. we don't have to worry about that. some cold lows, clear lake at 28 degrees. sonoma 30. stanford dipping down to 33. gilroy 34. and pleasanton and vallejo at 38 degrees. low 30s, mid-30s, take your pick. some 40s but san francisco seen 40 to 49 officially 45. san jose was 38 last hour, now they're 40. livermore 37. sunshine today, nice and mild and warm. upper 60s to about 70. we're losing the north wind, we have a hint of easterly breeze after a cold morning. temperatures santa rosa north wind yesterday, usually the leader of the pack, and that was the case yesterday. san francisco up to concord up 3, and san jose only 64 yesterday, i'll go 70 today. calm conditions, northeast and oakland. oakland downtown last hour 45, yet airport calm and 37. so big difference between downtown oakland and the airport. that system there which will be

back there, is had start to move in on saturday and we see high clouds, but high pressure says i'm hanging on, it's been here for a while, for the longest time and it weakens but first back up. and today and tomorrow looks good. dry pattern until next week, there's some signs it will be cooler for all next week, maybe some rain for north bay. but i'll believe it when i see it. one forecast model bullish for rain next week, the other one is like, not really so we'll see. oakland 66. danville 70. hayward 65. low 70s, morgan hill, gilroy. fremont 67. cupertino 68. and a bunch of 68's on the peninsula. san bruno 65. and half moon bay 64. sunny tomorrow, cooler on saturday but still okay. clouds roll in sunday, monday. possibility of rain to the north. >> thank you, steve. overnight a moderate earthquake hit haiti, how

people there reacted in a country still trying to recover from the 7.0 quake two years ago. also rebuilding quake damaged japan, how silicon valley is responding to a call to help one of japan's most important industries bounce back from the quake and tsunami. and hacking hits the vatican. what the group anonymous claims its done to the catholic church's official website. [ beep ]

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much lighter brose today and already sunshine. it will be sunny all day today, temperatures warming up. we'll see from 30s and 40s, end up with sunshine, 60s, upper 60s to a few low 70s. look at these pictures, now this is equador, tori. heavy flooding kills at least 20 people, dozens more have been hurt. particularly in the coastal communities. victims are scrambling to get water knee-deep in some areas

out of their houses. and estimated 2800 people have been evacuated. there's now in shelters, that flooding has destroyed about 160 homes. new this morning, a moderate earthquake hit haiti. it's causing some of the people there to run into the streets because they're scared. it was a magnitude 4.6 quake, centered 24 miles from the capitol of port-au-prince. that quake as you can imagine rattled the nerves of people who can think back to january 2010, when a magnitude 7 quake killed more than 300,000 people and caused thousands of homes to collapse. so far, we've heard no reports of any injuries or damage in this latest earthquake. an expert panel is recommending that the u.s. customize american plans for each of the country's 65 nuclear power plants in some cases the panel is recommending an expansion of the standard 10- mile evacuation zone that's been in place for more than 30

years. the panel's recommendations are part of an analysis set to be released today on last year's japanese nuclear disaster. and silicon valley green technology companies are helping japan as it rebuilding its power industry following the 9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that damaged several nuclear power plants in japan. a professor at stanford university says in japan the demand for alternative energy solutions is high because the crisis last year rattled the public's trust in nuclear power. the u.s. surgeon general is trying to convince young people not to start smoking. as allison burns reports, a report came out just today using the latest research to warn kids about the dangers. allison. >> reporter: dave, let's get right to a live look at the official release of the report. medical experts are joining the surgeon general and secretary of health and human services to talk about the huge and nearly

thousand page report on youth smoking. the warnings are dire. smoking stunts lounge growth in kids and could lead to early heart attacks and strokes. the report shows how significantly smoking damages a young person's body, even if they don't feel it. the report also takes aim at states like california for cutting tobacco prevention programs and at tobacco companies for advertising campaigns that could influence young kids. >> virtually every new smoker is a child. 90% of all new smokers start as teenagers. >> the surgeon general is also sounding alarms about menthol cigarettes, saying they mask the harshness associated with cigarettes smoke and are especially appealing to young people who have more live coverage of the surgeon general's comments during my

next update in about an hour. allison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. a deal was reached late last night that clears the way for a senate vote on a $109 billion bill to overhaul the federal highway and transit programs. leaders of both parties consider the transportation bill and a top priority. they see it as a way to create new jobs and also prove to the public they can work together to help the economy. however, the bill also includes votes on a string of 30 amendments, a lot of them unrelated to highway and transit construction. the vatican's website is back up and running again this morning. that website was down for much of yesterday after someone allegedly hacked into it. the group anonymous claims responsibility for it. it says it took down the website at the vatican because of the church's teachings and its alleged sex abuse scandals. our time 7:18. happening right now in washington, d.c., cracking down on food stamp fraud. the house oversight committee is holding this hearing in

capitol hill right now. these are live pictures, watching as the camera changes goes back and forth. but the lawmakers want to know why dozens of store owners who have been banned for fraud in the food stamp system are still in business and still accepting food stamps. some of the witnesses include the inspector general of the agriculture department, and these are live pictures from washington investigating food stamp cheating. we'll bring you more details of the morning goes along. a woman from michigan who won the lottery is still collecting food stamps. 24-year-old amanda clayton thought she would be cut off after winning a million dollar jackpot. she bought a new house and car but still thinks she should still be on welfare. >> really struggling that really need that money, do you really think you have a right to that money? >> i mean, i kind of do.

i mean, i have no income, and i have bills to pay. i have two houses. >> now, she added she really didn't win a million dollars, she took the lump sum, which was only $700,000. michigan state lawmakers are working on a bill to keep lottery winners from also getting welfare. political analysts say the way things are going in the republican race, it looks like california's june 5th primary will actually matter for a change. after his super tuesday victories in six states, mitt romney now has 415 delegates. but that's only 36% of the 1144 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination. and his three rivals say they are not dropping out. if this pattern continues, june 5th, when california if four other states vote, becomes one of the key dates become the g.o.p. convention in august. right now newt gingrich is

holding a campaign rally in jackson, mississippi. these are live pictures now. gingrich's campaign cancelled plans to visit kansas, which holds its primary on saturday. instead he is concentrating his efforts on the southern states. he won his home state of georgia on super tuesday, and he also won south carolina. time is 7:20. little chilly this morning, kind of tricky to figure out how you'll dress today. we're looking out our window. pretty clear, sunny day. steve is coming back and will tell you if it will warm up some more. >> and how producers for a tv show film this is scene became heroes after stumbling on a woman in distress in san francisco. >> and you're not driving exactly like steve mcqueen here on highway 24, but you're driving, getting up to the caldecott tunnel. more about the commute and the bay weather.

[ stu ] yeah. it's electric. i don't think so. it's got a gas tank right here. electric tank, right over here. an electric tank? really, stu? is that what you pour the electricity in? it's actually both, guys. i can plug in and go 35 miles gas free, or i can fill up and go a whole lot farther. is that my burger? oh. i just got bun. i didn't even bite any burger.

welcome back. time is 7:23. a tv crew filming a chase scene for the popular fox show alcatraz had to help save a stroke victim in san francisco. now, the crew was at bay and larkin streets yesterday, recreating that famous steve mcqueen chase scene from the film bullet when producers noticed a car parked where they needed to film. they traced the car's owner to a house and found a woman who just suffered a stroke. san francisco police officers were on the set. they rushed over there, called an ambulance. the rescue effort wouldn't have been possible if the tv crew hadn't been there. now the filming continues today on taylor street, and you can catch this scene in the season finale of alcatraz, monday, march 26th. our channel 2 website, ktvu.com, has more videos and pictures of that alcatraz

filming. just look for the links on the front page. >> we brought it to you live yesterday, some some. scenes and good news, a woman rescued. check in with sal, keeping a close eye on the commute. >> the bay bridge and, it's a little slow this morning getting into the city. no major problems on the bridge itself. but you'll be waiting there for a bit as you make it on to the span. also this morning, we're looking at the 98.7 bridge westbound 92 traffic heavy, say stall on the bridge but since they installed the shoulders years ago, stalls don't mean a lot to the san mateo bridge because people have a place to pull over. and by the way, the very new eastern span of the bay bridge when completed will have the same type of shoulders so stalls will have a place to pull over. moving along to the maps, i wanted to show you the dumbarton bridge, traffic good according to the road centers. 880, though, between a ward and fremont little slow. steve, we just mentioned steve mcqueen, went to my dad's house

and watched tower inferno, remember that movie? >> i watched the great escape the other day. that was on too. yes. good steve mcqueen movies. we also have a really nice forecast for you today. unless you like clouds and rain, then i can't help you. but maybe next week. but today it's sunny. it will not be at windy. cold, 30s, but sunshine. by the way, concord reporting flurries again on their observation, smart phone app. that's not true. it's clear. just a bug in the system. san jose also 38, now 40. sunny today, nice to warm. temperatures much, much calmer conditions. there's a little easterly component to the breeze but nothing compared to the past couple days. and high pressure says i'm here and i'm going to hang out for at least two days, then that system will be here for the weekend. 60s to upper 60s and low 70s today. there are some hints of rain for the north bay, sunday, monday. but i'll believe it when i see it the way the year has gone.

it's sunny today and tomorrow, then the possible rain on tomorrow. >> time is 7:26. a massive storm way up there in space, but it can cause problems for us here on earth. why you should -- what you should know about the solar flare that's hitting earth this morning! >> we're live in berkeley, where firefighters are still battling an early morning fire. we'll tell you what the big challenge now is. >> also, the bay area on whale watch once again. this watch, though, comes with a warning. ♪

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if you're just joining us, we're following big news from berkeley. right now firefighters are still battling a huge fire at an apartment house. it started around 4:15 this morning on dwight way, near telegraph avenue. so far there are no reports of any injuries, and there's no word on how the fire started. the red cross is now on the scene. we want to continue our team coverage. tara is checking on the many people who lost their homes in the huge fire. tara. >> reporter: and a lot of evacuees are talking to the fire investigator now, he just arrived on scene. this is still an active fire. if you look behind me you can see flames shooting out of the top of the roof there.

this makes it more than three hours that nearly three dozen firefighters have been tackling these flames. we snuck around the backside of the building and got a firsthand look at what firefighters are up against. the water is weighing down on the structure. the big danger the chief tells us is the building is already in danger of collapsing. as a third floor has given way and if this building falls, firefighters are worried that it could implode and shoot out debris to the buildings nearby. dozens of people have been evacuated, not only from the burning building which has six units but from all of the surrounding apartments as well. >> i do -- and like there is flying around in the region. and [not understandable] it was really hard. and when i was trying to open the door and the door was so hot, i couldn't even place my hand on the doorknob. >> many of the evacuees have students at uc berkeley who say

they saw the orange glow of the flames, grabbed their laptops and cell phones and ran out the door. a red cross has been on the scene now for about two hours, they're helping some of those who are displaced find places to stay. but we've noticed a lot of these evacuees have already taken off so they may be staying with friends or family. back here live, you can see the flames still going as the smoke continues to billow up. they are still tackling this fire from the ladder and from the backside. it's really difficult to reach these certain hot spots so they're doing the best they can, and they say that it should be out pretty soon. tara moriarity, ktvu channel 2 news. >> we'll economic back with you, tara continue our team coverage as the top of the hour. lorain is there and talk to fire investigators, victims, and witnesses. she will tell us where things stands now live at 8 a.m. the biggest solar flare in

five years has hit earth. those surges of solar power can disrupt all kinds of things, travel. , energy, communications. the electric grid is especially vulnerable to those power surges. weaker solar flares can cause about $5 billion a year in damage. the experts say we're only partway through the current 11- year solar cycle. >> we're going to see this get bigger and bigger for the next three or four years, before it begins to turn down again. >> the airline industry is taking precautions because of this solar flare outbreak. airlines have been ordering their pilots fly their routes further south, to avoid any radiation, gps or radio interference. it is 7:33. new from overnight a man was found bleeding in the street after a brutal stabbing in oakland. police say the victim in his 20s collapsed on high street with multiple stab wounds last night. a stranger stopped, picked him

up and took him to the side of the road until an ambulance arrived. we don't yet know the victim's condition this morning. earlier in the evening police arrested an oakland woman just minutes after a man was found in her home shot in the head with a rifle. the shooting happened at 10th avenue near east 22nd street. the man died on the way to the hospital. police say the two were the only people in the apartment. the oakland school board unanimously approved charter status for two fruitvale area schools. that's after reaching a compromise for the schools called ascend and learning without limits. the deal calls for the schools to buy service from the district and lease district buildings at a higher rate. the schools will also contribute to the district's debt repayment, expected to limit the financial impact on the district. there's an important warning now if you're near or plan to be near the san francisco bay. ktvu's pam cook is in arenous

room to tell us about wayward whales, pam. >> reporter: the scary thing is that it's a mother and her calf, so marine biologists are particularly concerned. we're live along chrissy field this morning, on whale watch, where the two whales have been spotted wandering into the bay. beautiful morning as you can see there at the golden gate. the gray whales are typically make their travels from mexico up to alaska during their spring migration, panning the water to catch a glimpse. this is a live picture along chrissy field. sometimes unfortunately the whales make a wrong turn on their trip north and head under the golden gate. a member of the national marine sanctuary says it's because the entrance to the bay looks very similar to the birthing lagoons in mexico. and we haven't been able to spot them there this morning, but newschopper 2 spotted the gray whale and her calf near the golden gate bridge yesterday. there's the video there.

boats are warned not to get within 300 feet, and also avoid doing anything that could separate the mother from her calf. >> several boats were just them or a boat comes too close, the calf could get separated from the cow, then its dependent on it at this point. that calf will die. >> gray whales are protected by the marine mammal protection act so again, boats have to stay within a certain distance. again, they also know whale watching can be very exciting, very tempting to get close to get a closeup view of those whales. the whale and her calf and again it's a beautiful morning out there. but again, that can be dangerous to the whales and to the boats themselves. these are very big creatures and the mother could become very protective of that calf. so again, the warning out this morning, hopefully the whales make their way back out to the ocean. i'm pam cook, back to fori.

the police offers association says violent crime is on the rise. according to police department numbers, 51 violent crimes were reported in january and february of this year and that nearly double the 27 crimes reported in the same period last year. police say a spike in crime is stretching the department's resources. this morning police in fairfield are searching for a gunman who killed two people. it happened late yesterday afternoon at a condo complex on el toro court. officers found two young men lying in the street. they were shot several times. both died at the scene. investigators say one victim was a 24-year-old man from fairfield, the other an 18-year- old man from east palo alto. neighbors say the sound of gunfire has become all too common in this area. >> i hear stuff like this, oh, yes, it tears my heart up. >> when is this going to stop? when at peace?

>> witnesses spotted an african- american man with long dreadlocks running from the scene. it's believed he sped away from the complex in a gold colored mercedes. complaints are growing about late night partying in the newly revitalized area of san francisco. that area is on polk street between bush and post. there's a concentration of bars there. businesses working together to try to address this problem. one thing they're doing is staggering their closing times to prevent large crowds from filling out on the streets at the same time. police say despite the complaints, they're haven't been any major violent incidents in that area. it 17:38. check in with sal, see what is happening on the roads on this thursday morning. >> all right, good morning. we're getting crowded condition, we'll start off looking at the road centers we have on our computerized map system. and looking at the south bay, you can see that the south bay we have some red which means stopped traffic, and yellow means slow traffic.

if a couple indicators, northbound 280 near 880, a minor crash causing a bunch of slow traffic getting up past the 17-880 interchange. 85 slow from 87 to cupertino, and 101 near hellier, a crash on the shoulder. 101 also slow from 280 to sunnyvale. live pictures now, this is a look at 880 northbound, still not -- slow at all really. coming up to high street. but that will change. and the morning commute looks okay, westbound bay bridge. it's backed up tomorrow a typical delay of 20 minutes. steve. >> thank you, sal. a very good morning to all of you. blue skies, nice day, not nearly as windy, just a little puff of a breeze for some. few higher elevations could have breezy conditions but everything is calming down. temperatures will be warming up. it's cold out there! lots of 30s this morning. lots of 30s. so very dry air mass, you might neat chapstick, you may notice it just dry, hardly any moisture in the air. sunshine at noon, sunny and

warm later today. yesterday because of that north wind, santa rosa -- they benefit the most. and they hit 70. i kept it 70 because they lose the north wind so still nice. san francisco bumped up two, san jose only 64. i'm going 70 today. very cold lows. clear lake at 28 degrees thanks to chloe. sonoma 30. pleasant hill 33. concord 33. stanford in there as well. observer ken just also checked in with through. gilroy 34. pleasanton at 38. so a lot of 30s here. you can take your pick, or 40s. san francisco 40 to 49. cold valley this morning, to 40. livermore 37. redwood city at 37. high pressure is large and in charge, and it's going to hang around for a day. then that system right there will move in about saturday, give us clouds. sunny and warm, cold morning but much calmer conditions today compared to last couple days when the wind was whipping all over the place. 60s and 70s end result today.

san rafael 67. we'll go 65 in berkeley. 70 pittsburg. 67 castro valley and danville and san ramon 70. low 70s. 67 fremont. santa cruz at 71. upper 60s on the peninsula. mid-60s for some. 98.7 millbrae in there and daly city at 62. half moon bay, 64. sunny on friday, now cooldown. fall comes back on higher clouds saturday. mostly cloudy sunday into monday. possibility of rain to the north. >> all right. thank you. 19 minutes before 8:00. we're just hours away from a crucial deadline in the great debt crisis. and new numbers just in on unemployment in the u.s. what it says about the state of our economy. and while many think the ipad is cooling a word of warning, all that blazing speed will come with a blazingly high price to match. [ male announcer ] technology accelerates at a relentless pace.

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stocks opening higher, thanks to optimism over progress towards easing greece's debt burden. the private investors in freese have until noon to were to swap $140 billion in greek government bonds for new ones worth less. they're indicating it will succeed. the dow up 42, nasdaq up 16, s&p up 7. >> you're, dampening some of the enthusiasm is the news on jobless claims. the number of people applying for new unemployment benefits jumped on more than expected in the last week. in morning the labor department reported initial claims rose to 362,000, up 8,000 from the week before and the highest level

since january. but economists say it's still low enough to indicate the markets are creating new jobs. the labor department will announce the february unemployment rate tomorrow. time is 7:44. occupy demonstration is planned this morning in san francisco. they're calling it recognition of international women's day. a group calls itself the world can't wait says they will take over a bank of america branch. coming up during our next hour we'll bring you live pictures from the demonstration. also occupy protestors were at the city of oakland to rescind stay-away orders that ban them from going near frank ogawa plaza. the orders were issued after a january 28th demonstration where more than 400 arrests were made. occupy oakland says more than 20 activists have been ordered to stay away from oakland city hall. but they claim that violates their free speech rights. they'll be talking about this issue during a news conference

at 10:00 this morning. and the oakland city attorneys office is suing an elk grove man for vandalism during a occupy demonstration last november. 24-year-old caesar acquire is accused of using a metal chair to smash out windows of a police office building. the city attorney says taxpayers should not be stuck with paying for the repairs. the lawsuit is seeking more than $6,000 in damages. and there may be more people facing charges. the ex-girlfriend of a man accused of a trip ill murder in san francisco returns to the witness stand today. 25-year-old edwin ramos is charged with shooting to death a father and his two sons in 2008. prosecutors believe the shooting was gang-related. they say ramos mistook his alleged victims for rival gang members. in court yesterday 30-year-old sally testified her then- boyfriend was at home the day of the shooting. a hayward man who hit a

young phillies fan leaving a baseball game at at&t park now is waiting for formal sentencing after pleading guilty to felony dui charges. video from a san francisco taxi shows some of the damage. 22-year-old andrew vargas caused this last august 4th his white truck crashed into the cab, then took off. prosecutors say vargas was driving drunk and also struck and severely injured nine-year- old ryan white of philadelphia. >> it has been a really sad time for everybody, for us. >> vargas's parents came from mexico city to hear their son plead guilty yesterday. he will serve a year-long jail sentence and be placed on five years' probation. under a plea deal prosecutors say ryan white is now back in school but still recovering from his injuries. formal sentencing for vargas is set for next month. southern california school officials say a fight at a

locke area school was not racially motivated. it broke out between african- american and latino students at carson high school yesterday. the school district's police chief says there's no evidence supporting initial reports that racial tensions were a factor. the school principal says seven students were arrested or suspended but still not clear what sparked the violence. a california junior high school teacher is on paid leave, she allegedly appeared in an internet porn video. school officials in oxnard say video was not filmed at school and no students were involved. that teacher is not accused of any crimes. there's also no moral turpitude clause in her contract. so in order to punish her, the school district would probably have to prove that her private life was affecting her teaching in the classroom. more bay area schools are expected to send out layoff notices as a state deadline

gets closer. the livermore school district is expected to hand out 28 layoff notices next week to beat the march 15th deadline. newark school district will lose 26 employees. even more positions could be lost if voters fail to approve governor brown's proposed tax increase in november. livermore and newark are not alone. san francisco has already issued almost 500 layoff notices. we will know tonight if san jose's deandre blue away viewers with his rendition of stevie wonder classic, master blaster. ♪ ♪ >> he definitely impressed the judges last night on "american idol." randy jackson says he was in perfect rhythm. jennifer lopez says she liked it a lot. and with his trade mark hair, he has a different flavor than anyone else and really likes that. to find out which of the remaining 13 contestants gets the boot, tune in to "american

idol" on ktvu at 8:00 tonight, also we'll talk live with that contestant who is booted off tomorrow on mornings on 2. >> master blaster? the video game conference is honored its very best at the choice award in san francisco. the video portal 2 won the most trophies from the ceremony. this sci-fi puzzle won trophies for best design, best audio, best narrative. lot more! the portal 2 is from -- corporation in washington state. look at this! the elderly scrolls five sky rim from bethesda soft works is named game of the year. that's the top award. when the new ipad goes on sale a week from tomorrow, it could be a boom for the wireless companies. the updated version of the ipad is a lot faster than the current version. but that means it can use up all the data allowed for one month of your wireless plan in

about 10 minutes. some of analysts say a download of just a single movie from the itunes store over 4g could put you over your monthly limit. the chinese company that is suing apple over the ipad trademark is taking a new step now to try to stop ipad sales in china. the company preview technology sent a letter threatening severe measures against distributors and dealers who sell that ipad in china. the letter says the preview will pursue civil and criminal liability cases. still not clear if the letter will stop any dealers from selling the ipad in china. forbes magazine reports 1226 billionaires in the world, and that's more than any other year. for the third year if a row mexican tycoon carlos flynn is the richest man in the world. microsoft co-founder bill gates keeps his hold on second place, followed by warren buffett. the bay area's well rested with

oracle's larry ellison and larry page. and facebook's mark zuckerberg comes in at number 35 and i just checked, number 36 in the u.s. is steve jobs' widow. >> wow. >> $9 billion. >> did you see dave clark's name on that? >> i'm looking. i'll keep scrolling down. >> keep looking! big change in the works for infineon raceway. the reason the naming rights are up for grabs. benefits discovered after just a 20-minute workout. getting ready to plant?

chances are your soil is like this: compacted, drained of nutrients. it'll hold your plants... but it'll also hold 'em back. the solution: miracle-gro garden soil. the perfect mix of rich, organic ingredients, and miracle-gro plant food. just mix it in. and turn bad soil into great soil. helps plants grow twice as big. instead of holding 'em back, they'll leap ahead. miracle-gro garden soil. start right. finish big. the company that owns infineon raceway hopes the track will have a new name this summer. the company that paid more than $36 million to put its name on the track has decided not to renew its 10-year deal. the agreement end on may 31st.

they're still locking for a new company to pie the naming rights >> i think that's sal leaving the parking lot, shift is done. that track opened the drag racing season last night. drivers can bring their street legal cars, pay a fee and race others on a quarter mile track this. year they've added another event, called drifting. and it's based on illegal sideshows, but this has several safety requirements, including helmets and seat belts for drivers and it keeps spectators some distance from the moving cars. when you're in great shape you already know exercise is already than burning calories. a new study says it can also change your dna! researchers at a swedish medical university found just a 20-minute workout can change the dna molecules in your muscles and make them more efficient. the underlying genetic code stays the same, though. the study was conducted on 14

young men and women using a exercise bike. >> i can't do that! fall frat on my face! let's check in with sal. hey, sal. >> hello. we're getting word of bart delays 42 san francisco. 15 minute delays, had to take a train out of service at that train embarcadero now, in the tube. not doing so well. so they got it to the embarcadero station, evacuated the passengers, and now that train is being taken on the. delays into san francisco and word to daly city 15 minutes according to a bart spokeswoman. let's go out and look at the commute on 880 northbound, you can see traffic is going to be heavier approaching high street heading north on interstate 880 on the right. bay bridge toll plaza backed up for about a 15 to 20-minute delay. the south bay action there, couple minor fender bender on 17 and 880, but for the most part just a bunch of slow traffic on 280 if 85 up to the valley. now let's go to steve. >> thank you, sal.

we have clear skies, not as breezy as past couple days so things calmed down. that meant the cold at 20s, 30s. satellite back and missing images. fog pushed out to sea. 30s now starting to warm up, fairfield an hour old, the santa rosa napa updated. they were in the low 30s. lot of 30s and low 40s, temperatures though staying on the cool side at night but they'll be warmer during the day. sunny for everybody today. just a lighter breeze. dry pattern, maybe next week. north bay some rain. today we're dealing with sunshine. 60s on temps or low 70s p extended outlook more of the same. friday cooldown, higher clouds saturday, mostly cloudy sunday into monday, possible rain to the north. there's a new development involving injured giants fan bryan stow. the clear message going to both stowe's family and the l.a. dodgers. >> we're liver in berkeley and

firefighters finally making some progress, a fire that started after 4 a.m. this morning. we'll have the latest details. >> a subcommittee getting ready to hear about mistakes made at national cemeteries like the one in san francisco. i just talked to a bay area congressman and you'll hear from him coming up. it's getting crowded

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good morning. welcome back to mornings on 2. it is thursday, march 8th. topping our news at 8, developing news from berkeley. still watching this, right now firefighters still battling a big fire, huge one, at a berkeley apartment house. it started on dwight way, not far from the cal campus. ktvu was the first to show you live pictures of this. and lorain blanco is joining us live at the scene with an update somewhat is happening right now, lorain? >> reporter: right now, dave, firefighters are making a lot of good progress. you can see smoke still coming out of the top of that apartment building. but the good news out here right now is that it's gone from black to mostly white smoke. that means the water that

firefighters right now are drenching it with is finally doing some good. at the start of the fire about a quarter after 4 a.m., the building was fully engulfed it. quickly became a two-alarm fire. firefighters say it's an older structure so it spread very quickly. they had to get out and fight the flames from the outside and soon after the roof collapsed. now that the sun sup, the new challenge is trying to keep the walls intact. firefighters have evacuated buildings as a precaution and they'll remain empty for a while. >> we have fire that's running through walls and ceiling and floor spaces of the building. we're also dealing with a roof and third-story collapse that son the backside of the building. so we're still trying to spray water from the exterior and finding hidden hot spots. >> fire investigators are on scene right now. it's too early to point to a possible cause. the number-one concern still at 8 a.m. right now is to get the fire fully contained.

reporting live, lorain blanco, ktvu channel 2 news. we also have new video of the fire, from a different angle. this is exclusive video you're looking at. our crews shot this from the backside of the building, just a little while ago this morning. you can see the damage for yourself. this building is gutted. looks like it may fall down at any moment. we're going to continue our team coverage of the story in just a cut. major. ktvu's tara moriarity also out there, she is checking on the people and there are a lot them who lost their homes in this morning's huge fire. we'll hear from some of those victims coming up at 8:30. a bankruptcy judge wants lawyers to settle a several days foote filed by the family of injured giants fan bryan stow. stowe was attacked outside dodgers stadium during opening day one year ago and suffered severe brain injuries and continues to recover at a rehabilitation facility. the stowe family is suing the

los angeles dodgers for negligence. the l.a. times reports a bankruptcy judge has put off a decision until march 21st and he urged both sides to settle the matter. there's a new development this morning in the case of mismarked graves at military cemeteries. the congress is about to hold a hearing on this issue at 10:30 this morning, our time. ktvu's claudine wong just talked to a bay area lawmaker who happens to sit on that committee looking for answers. good morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, dave. this will be an update, what congress wants to know is how this investigation into what is happening at these national cemeteries is going so far. we're at the san francisco national cemetery, which is in san francisco's presidio. nearly 30,000 graves here of service members and their families and what this have found here is more than 50 graves here were either mismarked or didn't have a headstone, similar problems in san bruno at golden gate national cemetery there.

congressman jerry who is from the bay area is in d.c. now getting ready to go into that hearing. i just talked to him over the phone and he says this has been a long investigation, but a resolution is coming soon. >> the god thing is that the numbers don't look too bad, but any errors i think are unacceptable, and again, if we can just make sure that the va develops the right tools and the right oversight, then we should be having no errors by the end of this year. we're having this phase of the inspection in the oversight ends in 2012. so we should see resolution this year. >> there are still military cemeteries needing to be inspected to make sure there aren't any problems. but as congressman says said, most of the inspections are done, the latest numbers we got said there were about 249 mistakes found. that's with 1.5 million gravesites checked.

so not big numbers, but the congressman says any number is an issue. we did talk to a man here who says people are going to make mistakes. >> there's a certain honor in making sure it's correct, but again, today, i think it's -- i don't think anybody is negligent or intentionally doing anything. i think there's a lot of -- we know how busy it is every day, and sometimes you're not as careful as others. >> so again, this committee hearing gets underway at 10:30 this morning. obviously people paying close attention. the congressman says to figure out what went wrong, if someone is responsible in terms of negligence. he says right now it looks like contractors may be to blame nor this but contractors need to be held to a high standard, especially then they're working in a national cemetery. so if you considered hallow ground some the goal is get an update, try to figure out how this happened, and try to prevent it from happening again. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. an overnight fire guts a

home in the north bay. it started before 1 in morning at a house on heavenly way in mill valley. the flames set off alarms inside the house and a woman in the home escaped unharmed. but she couldn't take much with her. a closet full of clothes and other items were left behind. firefighters arrived and flames were shooting from the garage. took about 10 minutes to put out the two-alarm fire. the chief says the blaze could have been far worse if it happened at a different time of year. >> today, mid-march, with little bit of rainfall last week, not a huge vegetation concern. today if this was august it would be a very high priority for us. >> the cause of the fire is under investigation. it took two dozen firefighters to put out the blaze. a napa man received second and third-degree burns after apparently setting fire to his own apartment. the sheriff's office went to the home on fourth street yesterday to serve eviction papers. the napa valley register

identifies the individual as regan st. john, a man in his 60s. the apartment was filled with smoke and shotgun shells were spread across the floor. the man was taken to the emergency room and later transferred if the burn unit at uc davis medical center in stable condition. despite getting a flood of complaints the city of san francisco is moving forward with a plan to add new parking meters in the mission bay neighborhood. the new meters are separate from another proposal to install 5,000 additional meters in the eastern part of the city. the mission bay plan covers areas near the giants ballpark, and south of market. the transportation officials aren't saying how many meters are being added and when they'll be installed. there's also a grim new statistic out tied to the bay area's most famous landmark. new report says 37 people committed suicide by jumping off the golden gate last year. that's a slight increase over

the past few years. we have to point out this study was issued by a group that is pushing for a new suicide barrier on the bridge. the bridge district is still trying to raise the $45 million it would take to build that barrier. the board first approved the project four years ago. woodside town council is willing to join the 98.7 county ban on plastic bags. the county bothered of supervisors expects to have a ban in place by the middle of next year, and is inviting cities and towns to join in. that could save communities the expense of conducting their own environmental impact reports, which the county has already done. the ban would also require merchants to charge customers a small fee for paper or reusable bags. hey, sal, you barei had a chance to catch your breath but how is highway 24 doing? >> getting busy this hour of the commute. lot of late commuters coming in

through the corridor. westbound 24 live look here, the traffic is going to be a little slow here as you drive up to the lafayette area. no major problems getting to the tunnel on the other side either. no traffic trouble spots on the other side down to 580. but you'll see some slow traffic and when you get to the toll plaza the commute has been steady and slow at the bay bridge. you'll see just a little bit of slow traffic on the span as well but most pulling up here at the toll plaza before the metering lights before the bridge. the south by has been slow, 280, 85, 17, just 280 the worst of it. it's backed up out of downtown san jose and pretty slow creep all the way up to cupertino. let's go to steve. >> thank you very much, sal. we have a calmer conditions today, nothing compared to the breeze and wind we had last couple days. it's sunny and it will be mild to warm. now i'm sure you've heard and this massive solar storm that's been taking aim here, and there are great videos and pictures coming in of the northern

lights. this was taken over sweden about four ours ago. and then i just showed tori one a video from the upper peninsula of michigan, showing spectacular lights shows. we'll see -- we're too far south. why can't we see them here? we're too far south. but around the canadian border and congratulations, that dips in so possibility there. for us, sunny side up today. it's cold this morning. lots of 30s. sunshine, sunny, mild to warm later today. temperatures now in the north wind helped santa rosa yesterday, i didn't change a thing that today, still 70. city bumped you up 2. san jose from 64 to 70. but some of those cold lows now, now 32. sonoma 30. stanford throw. gilroy down to 34. a budge of others at 38. san rafael holding at 39 degrees. lot of 30s in marin county, giving which to 40s for some.

and a little hint of a breeze picked up but it's more easterly than anything else. it's not that strong. jetstream staying to the north. so sunshine today, coast bay and inland much lighter brose. dry pattern into saturday, sunday, monday a hint towards the north we may see a pattern change with rain. i'm not sold on it making this far south. we'll see. one model is very bullish, the other one not so much. upper 60s and lower 70s today. pittsburg at 70. berkeley 65. liver missouri at 68. 70 in san jose. santa clara 71. upper 60s for redwood city. palo alto and half moon bay at 64. sunny today and tomorrow. fog and clouds on saturday. mostly cloudy rain north late sunday and monday. thank you, stock market. it's happening right now, the event featuring two of the most famous women in washington. also the bomb squad called out to a los angeles car

dealership. the reason it was such a tense situation. also, new tire troubles in one bay area city. police now want your help. [ beep ]

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much calmer conditions today, it's cold this morning. 30s. but it will be sunny across the board and temperatures warming up. upper 60s to low 70s. enjoy it while you can, cooler weather next week. happening right now in washington, secretary of state hillary clinton if first lady

michelle obama and part of the 2012 women of courage awards ceremony at the state department. let's listen in. >> role model for me in so many ways. i don't think she realizes how what she has done has made what i'm doing partially possible. so with all the respect and admiration that i can give to her, i will be wherever she needs me to be whenever she needs me to be there. [applause] i also want to join in recognizing our special guest, first lady mills, who is a dear friend, we enjoyed our visit to ghana. [applause] and she is going to have a productive stay here in washington. >> we're obviously listening live to first lady michelle obama at the international women of courage awards. this is at the state department. secretary of state hillary clinton was speaking just

before there and is standing next to first lady michelle and is the host, but mrs. obama is speaking. this is a scheduled today to involve -- honor all the women around the world who have shown courage and leadership in advocating for women's rights and personal -- great personal risk. and the year's recipients include women from 10 different nations, but we wanted to peek in live and we saw the first lady and we'll bring you more details later. there are events scheduled here in the bay area today for international women's day. in oakland, there's an event at frank ogawa ms.a at noontime. it will feature entertainment, speakers and a short women's history walking tour. in san francisco, at 12:30, there's an international women's day awards luncheon sponsored by the global arts and education group. the speakers will include state assemblywoman fiona barr and former san francisco mayor willie brown.

this will be at the west bay conference center on fillmore street. the u.s. surgeon general is releasing a nearly 1,000-page report today calling on kids to stop smoking. as allison burns reports, it's a revealing look at how many kids are actually picking up the habit. allison. >> reporter: tori, one in four high school seniors smokes. and the report from the surgeon general today puts a lot of the blame on tobacco marketing to kids. these are some pictures from the campaign for tobacco-free kids showing cigarettes for sale next to gum and candy. the report. says strategically locating tobacco where kids are exposed to it is a problem. the report takes aim at states like california that cut funding for tobacco control programs. >> the report challenges us to

end the epidemic of smoking among young people and the numbers are shocking. every day 1200 americans die from smoking. and each those people are replaced by two young smokers. >> the american lung association recently gave california an f for not doing enough to fund tobacco controlled programs. and anti-smoking groups are hoping that this surgeon general report will eventually lead to some big changes, like more marketing restrictions on cigarettes and higher taxes on tobacco products. reporting live, allison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. political analysts say the way things are going in the republican presidential race, it's looking like california's june 5th primary will actually matter for a change. mitt romney after his super tuesday victories in six states now has 415 delegate. but that's only 36% of the 1144

delegates he will need to clinch the nomination. and his three rivals say they're not dropping out. if this pattern continues, june 5th, when california and four other states vote, becomes one of the key dates before the republican convention in august. and looking at live pictures now. this is rick santorum's daughter, on stage right now. rick santorum is hosting -- holding a campaign rally this morning in huntsville, alabama. alabama holds its primary next tuesday. rick santorum picked up three states in the super tuesday voting, and although he lags far behind mitt romney in terms of delegates, santorum says he is staying in the race all the way to the republican convention. french president nick lahr sarkozy says there are too know foreigners in france. president scar keyes made the comment on a tv show and said

france can no longer manage to find housing, jobs and schools for all foreigners in the country. the comments surprised some people because mr. so cozy sarkozy is the son of a immigrant, trying to appeal to the conservative vote in france. the u.s. will join a group of nations today voicing new concerns about iran's nuclear program. the countries will issue a statement calling for inspectors to return to tehran. they're worried about uranium enrichment at underground facilities. this past tuesday iran proposed a new round of inspections in a move designed to lower tensions. pretty tense moments at los angeles area car dealerships when a grenade was found. it was found inside a used car. the bomb squad rushed there, they evacuated the dealership. they tried to destroy the

grenade several times, but it turned out to be an inactive grenade. more slashed tires reported in palo alto. the san jose mercury news reports the tires on four cars on east meadow drive and middle field road reported slashed on monday. on sunday, at least 51 cars had slashed tires. on east meadow, ventura court, ventura avenue, mcclain street and park boulevard. if you have any information about these attacks, call palo alto police. it is 8:21. a bay area community shaken by tragedy, the violent deaths of a distraught mother and her special-needs son. also we're talking about your weather this morning as you get going. steve is coming back. he'll tell you whether you'll need a raincoat this weekend. >> good, who. westbound 24 slow lafayette, we'll tell you where the troubling spots are straight ahead.

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sunnyvale neighborhood is now shaken by tragedy following the violent deaths of a mother and her special-needs son. many people are leaving flowers outside the home of 53-year-old elizabeth hogens. police say the distraught mother shot and killed her autistic son before turning the gun on herself. friends say the son, 22-year- old george, had recently left the county's juvenile education system and his devoted mother felt overwhelmed and depressed,

caring for him around the clock. >> she was just at her wits' end and said, i can't do this anymore. i need help. she just must have been beneath the black cloud that just couldn't lift. >> investigators say lester came home tuesday night to find the bodies every his wife and her adult son. he is a palo alto park ranger. let's get you to where you need to go this morning. sal, how -- you are working on something right now. >> yes, we're actually following another breaker here in the newsroom. but we're going to hold off on putting it out until we are absolutely sure it is. so stay with us. we'll follow it now. but it's in oakland so breaking news here. i will let you know, desk is working on it now. let's go out and look at 880 northbound, as you drive past the coliseum. traffic on the right northbound

880, is moving along okay. a little bit of slow traffic getting into the area. also the morning commute, 98.7 bridge moderately heavy. no backup before the toll plaza. there's a little slow traffic there. the south baril has been kind of slow all over the place. as you look at the crashes a lot but i would call 280 a traffic trouble spot from 101 to croup tiananmen. most of it under the limit. let's go to steve. >> thank you. a very good morning, cold this morning, 30s. but at least the breeze is really tailed off and there's a few locations, higher elevations but overall it's going to be sunny day. visibility won't be as sparkling. there's a little haze in the air but the air mass continues to be dry. and it will be sunny, coast bay and inland. temperatures 30s and 40s, rebounding from the lows this morning. lot of low 30s this morning. tonight, tomorrow, probably about the same but everything is staying to the north. it will come back right there. that's going to start moving in with some fog probably friday night and saturday partly cloudy skies, sunny and warm

today. cold morning but much calmer conditions. highs today low to mid-60s around the bay, and upper 60s to low 70s inland. looks like friday we -- continue this theme and then a little cooldown saturday. clouds roll in sunday, mostly cloudy. possible rain north. >> we'll move that clock ahead. >> that's right! sunday morning. >> all right. we have a new whale watch right here in the bay area. why this one also includes a warning for boaters. >> firefighters now saying they have an early-morning apartment fire under control. we've spoken to some of the evacuees and will tell you why this has been an especially tough week for them. >> also, overnight news from outer space, the biggest solar flare in years hits earth hours ago!

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time is 8:29. if you just joining us, we're still following big news outs of beckley. right now firefighters are still battling a huge fire at an apartment house this. one started about 4:15 this morning on dwight way near telegraph avenue. so far we have haven't heard of any injuries from this. there's no word on how the fire started. the red cross is there on the scene helping people out. we want to continue our team coverage of this. ktvu's tara moriarity back now, checking on a lot of people who lost their homes this morning. so tara, what do you know? >> reporter: it's been a pretty rough week for folks out here because it's mid-term week at cal and a lot of the evacuees happen to be students. fire investigators just did a walk-through, but still no official word on what caused

the fire. firefighters have within tackling hot spots for the past three hours, so this is it a really stubborn fire to put out. let's look at some video, one of 50 people had to leave their apartments this morning. there are nine people who live in the building that burned off dwight way and they're now trying to find places to stay. the deputy chief tells us 75,000 gallons every water and foam was doused on the fire. the building is in danger of collapsing, the third floor has already given way and a structural engineer is on his way. if this building falls, firefighters are worried it could implode and shoot out debris to the buildings nearby. again, as we said, this is midterm week for uc berkeley students so it was a rough night for many of the evacuees who are students. >> it will be a tough week for the student that a are affected, not only in the fire building but people on the block. so being out here since 4 in the morning, they've been up

watching us since then or can't get to their -- stuff or cars, so we're trying to as quickly as possible restore people's drives back to normal. >> some of the evacuees were allowed become into the building, which you can see from the backside is completely gutted. they were able to grab their laptops, cell phones if clothes. many of these folks have been out of their apartments for more than four hours, so they're really cold but red cross has been trying to keep them warm with blankets and some hot coffee and cocoa. pg&e crews have cut power and the cables for tv and phones to make way for firefighters. some canes in why their way. and you can see firefighters are still up there, tackling some of those hot spots. but again, the latest word as of 8:05 this fire is under control, about it was a very difficult fire for firefighters to tackle because there were no floors. so they were completely trying to get a handle on this from lades and from the ground.

>> tara. we'll continue our team coverage in just a couple minutes. ktvu's lorain blanco has been out there for hours there in berkeley. she's been talking to fire investigators, to victims, and to eyewitnesses. she will come back and tell us where things stand right now, when she joins us live at 8:45. we probably won't know until later in the day but so far scientists report no major problems from the largest solar storm this five years. nasa reports it hit earth about 4:00 this morning. it's estimated the cloud of charged particles were traveling at four million miles per hour. there is concern the storm will affect power grids and satellite communications. some airlines rerouted flights towards the south to avoid gps and radio interference. but the people most at risk are those aboard the international space station. >> if you were out in space, an

astronaut and you want to be indoors because you'll get a high radiation dose. >> we put astronauts into areas of space station where 30s a hello more shielding against radiation. >> to give you an idea of the damage storms can cause, in 1989 a power grid was knocked out in canada, leaving six million people in the dark. new from overnight, a man was found brutally stabbed on the streets of oakland. police say the man was in his 20s, he collapsed on high street last night after being stabbed several times. this is about 10:00 last night. a stranger stopped, picked him up and took him to the side of the road until an ambulance arrived. right now we don't know the victim's condition. earlier in the evening police arrested an oakland woman just minutes after a man was found in her home shot in the head with a rifle. it happened at 10th avenue near east 22nd street. the man later died on the way

to the hospital. police say the two were the only people inside the apartment. for the second time in seven months, a pit bull has been shot and killed by pacifica police. the recent incident happened yesterday at a home on adobe way. a woman called police after a neighbor's pit bull got loose, ran into her home and started attacking her dog. police say the officer shot the pit bull after the dog turned on him. back in august, pacifica police shot and killed another pit bull after that dog turned on its pregnant owner. 32-year-old darla died in that attack. a warning has been issued after a pair of whales wandered into the san francisco bay. newschopper 2 spotted a gray whale and its calf near the golden gate bridge yesterday. the gray whales are protected by the protection acted. boaters -- boats warned not to get within 300 feet and avoid doing anything that could

separate mother from calf. >> several boats were to surround them or comes too chose, then the calf could get separated from the cow, if it it doesn't have its mother to nurse from, it's dependent on it, and that calf will die. >> gray whales travel from baja to alaska during their spring migration. marine experts say the whales were pausing for a rest. jury selection from san francisco sheriff ross mark's domestic violence case will resume in 20 minutes from now. meantime, newly released court documents show a former girlfriend claims mirkarimi grabbed her arm, hard enough to leave a small bruise. she says it happened during a heated argument four years ago. she says mirkarimi apologized when he realized he hurt her. prosecution plans to call flores as a witness in mirkarimi's trial. death-row inmate wesley shermantine claims there may be a third man tied his now

infamous serial killer case. he sent a letter to a tv station saying his partner in crime, lauren herzog, had trained an apprentice on how to kill and get away with it. shermantine identified that third man as jason jones. it's not clear if he thinks jones was directly involved in any murders. and he believes jones is now living in another country. herzog committed suicide in january. a suspected norovirus outbreak at an assisted living facility is under investigation. the director of oakmont guard members in santa rosa say they've had several suspicious cases of flu like symptoms. a visitor has been confirm to have norovirus and almost 3 dozen people became sick. the virus is highly contagious. sal told us there's police activity in oakland right now. what do you know, sal?

>> we know that police are responding to a report of a stabbing at 73rd and weld, which is in east oakland. it's right there in east oakland, not too far from the hague berger road offramp. fire department is on the scene, medics, police, quite a scene developing here in east oakland. it's not affecting the freeway traffic. as a matter of fact, you look at the computerized version of the maps there, see how it's slow. and let's go to the live picture of 880, northbound, little slow traffic as it appoint out heading up north. it gets better after 23rd heading up to downtown oakland. has been slow in the south bay as well along 237, 280 and 101 trying to get into the sunnyvale area. let's go to steve. >> thank you, sunshine, nice, one forecast model starting to change sunday for the north by. sunday reasoning into monday with possible rain. but not today. or tomorrow. change will occur towards late friday into saturday. but today lots of sunshine,

temperatures are cold this morning but it will be nice to warm today. this will probably be our last 70 and then after that we'll start a cooldown, but still sunny tomorrow. not as warm. we're losing that northerly or easterly breeze. cold morning, calmer conditions. lighter wind. 30s and 40s. temperatures starting to warm up here and everyone will settle in rather nicely today with upper 60s to near 70. they'll still be great this. not as nice as last weekend but still nice. that's a system beginning to inch closer. maybe the pattern will change next week. just not sold on it completely. mendocino county, looks like next week could be one where you get some rain. but for the bay area we'll see if it makes it this far south. thursday and friday sunny. dry pattern until mainly next week it. will be cooler for everybody next week. we'll see how far that rain line makes it. today we don't have to worry about it. it's the sun line. it's for everyone. 60s to 70 degrees. 71 clear lake, rather cold this morning at 28. pittsburg 70.

brentwood, walnut creek at 68. oakland 66. 67 fremont to 72 in gilroy. santa cruz 71. 68 cupertino. palo alto and menlo park, mill brick all close, and half moon bay 64. sunny tomorrow, cooler by the coast. saturday we see some higher clouds and fog returning then cloud up on sunday. rain possible on the north into monday. coming up on 8:40, clean-up underway at nellis air force base in nevada after a severe windstorm. this is some of the damage the winds actually blew a large tarp off the roof of a billing. gusts reached up to 85 miles an hour on tuesday. the windstorm also downed trees and led to some flight cancellations. some last-minute efforts trying to free vent an economic collapse from greece. the deadline just hours away and a deal for a 140 billion- dollar international bailout.

it's much faster than ipad 2, but the new ipad could cost you. the downside to the tablet's enhancement. >> firefighters still putting out hot spots at a fire in berkeley that started at 4 a.m. this morning. we'll have the latest update, just ahead when mornings on 2 continues.

trading day higher despite disappointing news. the number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose last week. first-time claims increased by 8,000, and the highest level since january of but still low enough to support to suggest the job market is strengthening. the dow is up 45, nasdaq up 22. or dow looking up 57. nasdaq up 22. s&p up 9. one of reasons investors are optimistic greece will hammer a deal with private creditors to prevent the nation from defaulting. half hour ago, a government official says as of last night, more than 75% of investors have agreed to the debt swap. they have until noon our time to accept the deal to slash

$140 billion off greece's national debt, otherwise the country could default in just two weeks. our time is 8:44. up to date on our other top stories right now. at 10:30 our time congress will open hearings about mismarked headstones at military cemeteries. the department of veterans affairs found more than 100 unmarked or mismarked graves in san francisco's national cemetery. and also at the golden gate national cemetery in san bruno. in just about an hour from now, a group of occupy protestors say they'll call on the city of oakland to rescind the stay away orders that ban them from oakland city hall. the orders were issued after a january 28th demonstration. and right now in oakland, firefighters are still at the scene of a huge fire at an apartment house. this one started about 4:15

this morning on dwight way near telegraph avenue. lorain blanco is back now with the latest update. >> reporter: good morning, dave. firefighters tell us this is a very difficult fire to control, but they do have it contained at this point it. took just about four hours to get that fire under control. you can see it right now firefighters are on the roof as we speak. they're going up and down the ladder over there. for the first time in a long time, crews are back inside that apartment building. at the start of the fire about a quarter after 4 a.m., the building was fully engulfed and quickly became a two-alarm fire. firefighters say it's an older structure so it spread very quickly and they had to get out if fight the flames from the outside. soon after the roof collapsed. it took 75,000 gallons of water and foam to get fire contained. that happened a little after 8 a.m. this morning. the third floor of the building is completely destroyed, and firefighters say the back wall

of that structure is also completely destroyed. right now fire investigators are on scene. they still say it's too early to point to a cause. but of course they will be investigating throughout the day today. reporting live, lorain blanco, ktvu channel 2 news. new this morning, a moderate earthquake hit haiti, causing some people to run into the streets in fear. the magnitude 4.6 earthquake was centered 25 miles from the capital of port-au-prince. it rattled the nerves of people who remember the january 20107 quake that killed more than 300,000 people and caused thousands of homes to collapse. there are no reports of injuries or damage, though, in this most recent quake. the vatican's website is back up and running this morning. it was down for much of yesterday after someone allegedly hacked into it. the group anonymous claimed responsibility for the attack. it says it took down the website because of the church's

teaching and its alleged sex abuse scandal. an expert panel now recommending that the u.s. customize american plans for each of the nation's 65 nuclear power plants. they are recommending an expansion of the standard 10- mile evacuation zone in place more than 30 years. the panel's recommendations are part of the analysis set to be released later today about last year's japanese nuclear disaster. silicon valley green technology companies are helping japan as it rebuilds its power industry after the earthquake and tsunami that damaged several nuclear power plants, magnitude 9. a professor at stanford university says in japan the demand for alternative energy solutions is high because that crisis rattled the public's trust in their nubbing lure power. when the new ipad goes on

sale a week from tomorrow, it could be a boon for wireless companies. it could use up all the data allowed for one month of your wireless plan in just 10 minutes. analysts say a download of a single movie from the itunes store over 4g could put you over your monthly limit. the chinese company suing apple over the ipad trademark is taking a new step to stop ipad sales in china. preview technology sent a letter threat edge severe measures against distributors and dealers who sell the apple device. the letter says preview will pursue civil and criminal liability cases. it's not clear get in the letter will stop any dealers from selling the tablet computer. >> there are 1226 billionaires in the world, and that's more than any other year. for the third year in a row, mexican tycoon carlos slim is the richest man in the world.

bill gates keeps his hold on second place followed by warren buffett. the bay area is well represented with larry ellison, is larry page, and facebook's mark zuckerberg at number 35. more bay area school districts are expected to send out layoff notices as the state deadline gets closer now. the livermore school district is expected to hand out 28 layoff notices next week, trying to beat the march 15th deadline. new ash's school district may lay off 26 employees. even more positions could be lost if voters fail to atrophy governor brown's proposed tax increase in november. livermore and newark are not alone. san francisco already issued almost 500 layoff notices. the oakland school board unanimously approved charter status for two fruitvale area schools. that's after reaching a compromise with the school's

called ascend and learning without limits. the oakland tribune reports the deal caused for the schools to guy their janitorial and food serves from the school district. the schools will also contribute to the school districts' debt repayment. that's expected to limit the financial impact on the school district. tonight the u.s. coast guard will hold its first public meeting about the america's cup yacht race. the big races are still more than a year away, but the coast guard wants to make sure everybody knows all the safety rules when the races begin on san francisco bay. this evening's meeting will be at 6:00, at the waterfront hotel on jack london square in oakland. the troubling trend that's putting a small east bay police department to the test. plus, gun violence in fairfield claims two lives. there's a clue that could help police make an arrest.

the pleasant hill police officers association says violent crimes are on the rise and that small east bay city. according to police department numbers, 51 violent crimes were reported in january and february of this year. that's nearly double the 27 violent crimes reported during the same period last year. police say the spike in crime is stretching the department's limited resources. and police in southern

california have released a 911 tape from a bank robbery where a police officer was wounded. last week the robber called chino police just moments before the holdup, claiming he had a bomb and was ready to use it. >> the bomb threat was a diversion, the bank surveillance camera shows the gunman wearing body armor during the robbery. the man then ran out of the bank, shot and wounded a police officer, and then fled in a car. police have offered $20,000 for information leading to his arrest. police in fairfield searching now for a gunman who killed two people. this happened yesterday afternoon at a condo complex on el toro court. two young men were found wounded on the street. they've were shot several times. they died later at the scene.

investigators say one victim was a 24-year-old man from fairfield. the other an 18-year-old man from east palo alto. neighbors say the sound of gunfire was all too common in this area. >> when i hear stuff like this, oh, yes, it tears my heart up. >> when is this going to stop? >> eyewitnesses claim three saw an african-american man with long dreadlocks spotted running from the scene. it's believed he escaped in a -- from the complex if a gold colored mercedes. a reward has been increased now to help catch the vandals who targeted this school in richmond. the west contra costa school district voted last night they'll add 10,000 dollars in reward money. so now the total reward money is up to $22,500. vandals broke into the school last month. they left behind a half million

dollars damage in the new multi- purpose building. complaints are growing about late-night partying in a newly revitalized area of san francisco. the area is on polk street between bush and post, where there's a concentration of bars. businesses are working together to address the problem. one strategy is staggering their closing times to prevent large crowds from spilling out on the streets. police say despite the complaints, there have not been any major violent incidents in the area. hey, sal, how is 880 doing? >> it's a little slow, dave. and east bay is still a little slow. just a lot going on when it comes to minor fender-benders and just slow traffic coming up to the downtown oakland area. but it's typical future this time of also looking at the commute quickly here at the toll plaza still backed up. san francisco coming in northbound 101, that looks good approaching the 80 split. here's steve. >> today's weather is easy, sunshine and warm temps.

today and probably tomorrow as well. but then we start to cool things down on saturday, fog back, higher clouds and mostly cloudy sunday in mostly sunny, possibility of rain. looks like mendocino lake county and maybe the north by as well. >> wow. thank you. that's our report for this morning. we thank you for trusting ktvu channel 2 news. we'll see youth next time news breaks. join ktvu at noon for a report on today's women's day of protest in san francisco. we're always here nor a at ktvu.com. thank you for joining us. it's getting crowded

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